Articles Posted inEntrapment

Recently named as one of the top ten emerging legal issues in February, 2016, Internet crimes and the affirmative defense of entrapment, has become one of the most hotly contested legal contests in the 21st century. As violent crime and crimes against persons and property are dropping all over the Nation, internet crimes have seen a dramatic spike in both arrests and convictions in almost every State and Federal Court system. The most common of these internet crimes involve adults being caught in police “sting” operations, where undercover police officers pretend to be someone they are not, usually an underage boy or girl, to engage in sexual conversation or the exchange or proposed exchange of sexually explicit photographs of children under the age of eighteen. These crimes are very serious in nature, and in the event of conviction, may label an individual a sexual offender or sexual predator for the rest of their lives.

Police Troll Chat Rooms

The police will troll chat rooms and other public or semi-public forums looking for individuals seeking to meet or talk with others of similar interests. Sometimes those individuals are looking for illegal materials or to engage in sexually explicit discussions with minors, or those pretending to me minors. Other times, these conversations lead to a person traveling some distance to meet an alleged minor at a “trap” house, which then results in their arrest for felony charges.